The Mayor Dude with the Skater Attitude

On this episode, our hosts, former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter and Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt, invite onto the show a new friend from the Citizen's recent Ideas We Should Steal Festival. 

Matthew Tuerk is a wicked skater. He's a punk-rocking tattoo connoisseur. He's a marathoner, and the popular second-term mayor of Allentown, PA who has made it his mission to bring back his city's manufacturing success. 

"This guy is a fanatic about economic development," said Platt. "He's turned Allentown into Pennsylvania's third-fastest growing city."

"We had this idea that you could still make stuff in cities," Tuerk replied. "Soot and smog-filled cities are not what the future of manufacturing looks like. Manufacturing needs people. It needs good, high-paying jobs. There are a lot of folks that came to Allentown looking to tap into the American Dream. Empowering people should be our motivation." 

Then Platt prompted Tuerk to show off his unique Allentown flair. "I have the city seal tattooed on my chest," Tuerk declared, unfastening a few buttons on his shirt.

"That's commitment," Nutter said with a laugh.

Join us for an entertaining and informative episode about a city with its first Latino mayor "restoring a little bit of faith in the power of government to actually meet people's needs."

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As cities go, so goes the nation!